The Sweetness of a Little Girl

Following is the sweetest letter at the back of Dr. James Dobson's most recent book entitled Bringing Up Girls:

Dear Dr. Dobson,

Today is the sixth anniversary of the day my precious little girl, Delaney, went home to live with Almighty God.  As my family and I remember with tears, smiles and confident thoughts of seeing her again one day, I can't help but think of you as you are writing Bringing Up Girls.

Although we had only sixteen short months with her, Delaney is a special gift.  As the father of one boy already at that time (now two), I can tell you that she was a completely different being.  From the time my boys were old enough to reach out and hug me, I always got the sense that they were practicing their headlocks, which they now use on me every chance they get.  To receive a hug from Delaney, however, was an altogether different experience.  She never tired of melting into my arms and burying her tiny face deep into my neck.  She was pure love.  She was my "Sweet Delaney Pie."

When sharing our story with others, especially parents, I am always careful to convey the most important perspective that God has blessed us (yes, blessed us) with through our tragic loss.  I always say to them, "I can live my life here on earth without my precious Delaney, but I cannot possibly conceive of spending eternity without any one of my children."  God has made the significance of this perspective so very clear to my wife, Becky, and me, and we are eternally (literally) grateful.  I wish this truth could become as clear to every parent without having to go through such a tragic experience as ours.

Even through all we've learned, we are still not perfect parents, but we don't have to be perfect in order to pass along God's eternal perspective.  Our sons speak often and with confidence of  "our sister, Delaney, who lives in heaven."  They also smile as they talk about what they will do together when they finally get to see her.  The faith of children is so pure.  I love that.

I don't know what Delaney will look like when I see her again.  Will she still be a little girl, or will she have grown to be a beautiful woman?  No matter.  We will embrace, and I will weep flowing tears of joy for a long, long time.  I will weep because the pain of her death will be gone forever.  What will be left will be the only thing that matters:  we will share eternity together.

May God bless you, Dr. Dobson, as you write this book, that your readers will take seriously the responsibility of raising, protecting and loving these special gifts - these tender, loving, precious little girls God has entrusted them with.

Your brother in Christ,

Mark

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Through the eyes of a little girl.

These are part of the lyrics to the song, "More Beautiful You," by Johnny Diaz.

So turn around you're not too far
To back away be who you are
To change your path go another way
It's not too late you can be saved
If you feel depressed with past regrets
The shameful nights hope to forget
Can disappear they can all be washed away
By the one who's strong can right your wrongs
Can rid your fears dry all your tears
And change the way you look at this big world
He will take your dark distorted view
And with His light He will show you truth
And again you'll see through the eyes of a little girl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God is proving these things to be very true in my life. I have been thinking a lot about what it means to see through the eyes of a little girl. I think there are many aspects to this simple statement.

So often, I long to relive the days of my childhood. And I have to ask myself why this is? It's because I trusted that the world was good and everyone loved me. I had dreams of finding a noble knight. I was a princess. I had no idea how cruel people can be, the way boys would hurt me, the way I would give away my precious innocence. It was before my dreams of finding a man that would protect me, cherish me, and adore me were all but a distant memory.

Childlike faith. Such a fascinating thing. We have it one day and the next, it's gone. Our experiences and the culture rob us of this precious gift. As we grow up, the world tells us to be realists and not to expect too much out of God and people. We're told God doesn't really want to be involved in the tiny aspects of our everyday lives. We stop trusting that God is as big as He says He is, that He wants to do good things for us and bless those faithful to Him. And with seeing all the pain and sin around us, we may begin to question if God is even good. As young children, however, it is never hard to believe in these big ideas of an even bigger God. That He gives sight to the blind, food to the hungry, is a father to the fatherless, and carried the burden of the sins of the entire world..

When we are young, we are innocent and our hearts are pure. We don't notice the color of one's skin, the clothes they wear, how they look or talk, or all the other things this world notices. Instead, we judge others by the content of their hearts. Is that not the very heart of Christ? Years spent living in a culture that warps this way of thinking leaves us with a distorted image of where true value comes from. The only true beauty, worth, or value any of us has is from our Beloved Bridegroom, Jesus.

The Lord is teaching my heart to trust Him alone. To trust that He can bless me with a true warrior-poet, a man after His own heart. He's showing me the importance of protecting and preserving my heart and body for this man. Even though I don't deserve somebody like Christ, He still desires Him for me. My desire is to have childlike faith once again...To trust that God is faithful and blesses those that love Him and keep His commands. That He desires what's best for me. That He does big things! To look through the eyes of a little girl, which happen to be very similar to the eyes of Christ Himself, and see people the way He sees them. Not judging them by the standards of this world, but by their heart. And choosing to love them, no matter what the cost. To let Christ wash me clean, white as snow, and again be unaffected and unshaken by the pollution of this culture. To not yield to the twisted agenda of this culture. God is much bigger than the devil or anything and anybody in the world. His words are true and He can never lie. He desires to give us life and life more abundantly! May we all see through the eyes of little children again.

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